Funerals

Sadly, not every patient survives critical illness and death or the possibility of death is an ever present reality in ICU. Here people talk about organising a funeral for the relative who’d died in intensive care or on a ward.

Many people talked about having a funeral shortly after the death of their relative, partner or close friend. Deciding whether the deceased person will be buried or cremated is an extremely personal decision. For some it had been important to have a burial service so there would be somewhere specific they could visit and think about the person. For others having a cremation had been important. Some people said they’d discussed the kind of funeral the deceased person would have wanted with them at some point, and were glad to have felt able to follow his or her wishes. Others said the decision had been influenced by their family’s religious beliefs. Some patients had left instructions for relatives to follow. Other relatives said they arranged the kind of funeral they thought the deceased person would have wanted.

Her sister-law had left instructions and had wanted a Jewish funeral.

Age at interview 70

Gender Female

View profile

Her husband had told her what kind of a funeral hed wanted, including the music, and this was…

Age at interview 40

Gender Female

View profile

Organising their son’s funeral helped her husband focus on something. They wanted everyone to…

Age at interview 59

Gender Female

View profile

When someone dies

Sadly, not every patient survives critical illness. In cases where clinical staff feel recovery isn't possible (as discussed in 'End of life decisions'), they may...

Coping with bereavement

Everyone grieves and deals with bereavement in different ways and most people feel many different emotions at various times and stages, including anger, guilt, sadness...